Appliance control system and method

Abstract

A system and method to control an appliance using a computing device, such as a smartphone. The system may have one or more computing devices (each with a control client) and one or more appliances that communicate over a backend control unit to allow a user with the computing device to virtually control the appliance.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A computing device, comprising:
 a processing unit, 
 a memory that stores a control client; 
 the control client being executed by the processing unit to connect to an appliance, receive transformation data from the appliance when the appliance is connected and providing control instructions to the appliance when the computing device has been manipulated so that the computing device is a virtual control device of the appliance. 
 
     
     
       2. The device of  claim 1 , wherein the control client one of is installed on the computing device, downloaded to the computing device and provided to the computing device on computer readable media. 
     
     
       3. The device of  claim 1  further comprising one or more features that are used to control the appliance. 
     
     
       4. The device of  claim 3 , wherein the one or more features are one or more of a sensor, a flash, a microphone, a video, a screen and a keyboard. 
     
     
       5. The device of  claim 4 , wherein the one or more features further comprises one of a joystick, a mouse, a game console controller, a touchscreen monitor, an accelerometer, a tilt sensor, a location determining sensor/system, a proximity sensor, a gyroscope, a compass, an ambient light sensor, a camera, a speaker, a near field communication (NFC) reader, a global positioning service (GPS) device/sensor, one or more light emitting diodes (LED), a vibration sensor and a flash device. 
     
     
       6. The device of  claim 1 , wherein the appliance is one of a consumer electronics device, a home appliance, an air conditioner, an automobile, a gaming console, a personal computer, a smart TV, a set-top box, a digital video recorder (DVR), a computer, a router, a car system, a projector and a digital muppies. 
     
     
       7. The device of  claim 1 , wherein the computing device is a processing unit based device with a display, a memory and a connectivity circuit. 
     
     
       8. The device of  claim 7 , wherein the computing device is one of a smartphone, a tablet, a padphone, a personal computer and a tablet computer. 
     
     
       9. A method for controlling an appliance, comprising:
 connecting a computing device having a control client to an appliance; 
 setting up the computing device based on transformation instructions from the appliance; and 
 generating, by the computing device, control elements that are communicated to the appliance to control the appliance. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , wherein generating the control elements further comprises generating and communicating dynamic control objects. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 10 , wherein generating dynamic control objects further comprises converting raw sensor data into an object for each feature of the computing device.